Ending
by Di12381
Summary: What if the ending was just a little different?


What If

-I don't own any of these characters, I'm just borrowing them.

-As usual, reviews are greatly appreciated.

Ending

She rode as fast Philippe could move, her heart beating faster as they came nearer to the castle.

Philippe reared back as they entered the castle gates, not wanting to enter.

"I feel it too" Belle said. She had only left less than a week ago, but everything had changed, and not for the good.

"Belle?" Maurice asked, seeing his daughter tense up.

She saw the mob fighting in the front and felt her heart break. She knew Gaston had inflamed the mob into following him, if he killed the beast, nothing would stop her from having Gaston's blood on her hands.

"Stay with Philippe, Papa".

Leading Philippe around the back, she tied him to the tree and opened the door to the secret passageway under the castle.

She knew this passageway well, having spent many hours exploring the castle. Lighting the torch, she didn't know what to expect, but she prepared herself to fight.

"You think you deserve her, monster" Gaston sneered "You deserve nothing".

"She loves me" Beast said weakly.

"Love you, how could anyone love an ugly beast" Gaston continued to force Beast in the corner.

Beast felt himself wanting to fight, but without her there, his life had lost all meaning. Gaston's shadow covered him and Beast faced what he thought was to be his final moments of life.

That was, until the arrow hit the wall beside him.

"You want a fight, Gaston, fight with me" Covered in whatever armor she could find, she pulled out her sword.

"What you, fight me, Belle, the only thing you can do is read those silly books of yours".

"There are many things in those books, that you will never understand".

"Belle" Beast tried to reach for her, but winced as Gaston's heavy leather boot landed in his gut.

"I'm here" for a moment, the intensity in her eyes disappeared and Beast only felt the love coming from her, not the pain of his wounds.

"Are you telling me that you love this thing?" Gaston balked.

"That, Gaston, is none of your concern. I suggest you and your men leave us, now, before I hurt you".

"You couldn't hurt me".

"Try me, Gaston, you might discover a few things you never knew about me" Lunging for him, their swords clashed against each other.

The beast watched as she fought. He almost expected her to leave him forever, that their time together was just a dream and he was destined to live out the rest of his life as it was before she arrived, a life full of loneliness and heartache.

As he felt his life force slowly slipping away, the last thing he saw was her face and the last thing he remembered was that night.

_She looked like an angel, like a painting. He couldn't believe that this beautiful woman was here, with him. Even if he died tonight, he would forever remember this moment. _

"_You, uh, look beautiful" he said awkwardly, daring not look at her, fearing he would wake up and she would be gone._

"_Thank you, you look nice too" she had to admit to herself that he was not the monster she had initially presumed him to be. He was sweet and noble and if she looked at him the right way, he was almost handsome._

_After dinner, he offered her his arm and as the music played, they were in their own world. _

"_Are you happy here?" he asked as they sat down in the balcony, the cool night breeze wrapping around them._

"_Yes" she shivered as another breeze surrounded the castle._

"_No, thank you, that's not necessary" without being asked, he took his coat off and wrapped it around her._

"_Your cold, we should go inside" the beast offered._

"_I'm fine" even with the jacket around her, she was still shivering, though the smell of him did warm her up, if only inside._

"_Well, I am cold, so if you would like to join me inside, I would love the company" the beast offered._

"_Thank you" helping her to her feet, they walked inside, his arm comfortably around her shoulder while her arm was wrapped around his waist. _

"_It looks as if the spell will be broken soon" Lumiere nudged a skeptical cogsworth._

"_We shall see" the clock replied, though secretly he was hoping, as Lumiere was, that fate had led the girl here and the smile on the master's face would not dim anytime soon. _

"_Thank you, I cannot remember the last time I had this much fun" They stopped at her door._

"_Your welcome"._

"_Beast?" she asked, as he turned around, realizing that his jacket was still on her shoulders._

_As he took back his jacket, he was surprised by the gentle kiss she gave him._

_He thought of, dreamed of this moment a million times since they met, but he had hardly expected it to be reality, especially considering his present form._

_Forgetting everything around him, except her, he responded to her kiss, letting his dreams finally become reality, if only for a moment._

_The kiss deepened as she leaned into him and his jacket, which was just about to return to his body, but instead, it fell to the floor._

_He wanted to be a gentleman, the man she wanted to have by her side, like the heroes of the books she loved, but he felt something else coming out of him. It felt animalistic, like the part of him he was trying to let go, was resurfacing and that was the last thing he wanted to become._

"_What's wrong?" she asked._

"_We should stop"._

"_Why?"._

"_I, uh, could hurt you" he searched for an excuse, but knew that it was fear, not inexperience that held him back._

"_I'll survive"._

"_Are you sure?"._

_Her response was another kiss that made him forget everything except her and his realization that he truly loved her._

_The next morning, he slept soundly, his arm protectively wrapped around her waist, until she woke up with a start._

"_Papa!" she called out, her heart beating wildly as she realized where she was. _

"_Where are you going?" the beast opened his eyes to find her getting dressed._

"_My father is sick, if he dies and I'm not there…"._

"_But you said you were happy, you said you would stay here with me" Inside the beast felt his heart breaking, he knew all along, this was not to be._

"_I am, but he is my father, please, let me return him, until he heals" she begged, tears starting to well up, as much as he loved he knew part of her would always belong to her father._

"_A week, but you must come back; otherwise, I will die without you"._

"_You won't die, you'll see, I'll be back before you know it"_

_She kissed him lightly before preparing Philippe for the ride home._

"_Bring him back" the beast called out._

"_What?" she asked._

"_Bring him back here, after everything he has been through, he deserves a little comfort"._

_Jumping off Philippe, she ran back to him and kissed him generously._

"_A week" she broke the kiss and finally returned to Philippe for her journey home._

He woke up, expecting to be meeting his maker. Instead he woke up in his bed, feeling the bandages wrapped his various wounds and the soft mattress beneath him.

"Belle?" he asked weakly.

"There, master" Mrs. Potts pointed to Belle, sleeping awkwardly in the nearby chair.

"Is she…?".

"She's fine, master, her wound was minimal, and it's you she worries about".

"Belle was hurt?" despite his physical pain, he sat up quickly, and then upon feeling his body complaining, returning to his former position.

"It was only a few scratches, she insisted on tending to your wounds before her own".

"Belle?" the beast asked for her again.

"I think, master, it is best that you should let her sleep, and you should rest as well, it has been a trying day for all us" the teapot offered.

Knowing that the teapot was correct in her observation, he wordlessly returned to his dream bound state, knowing that she had come back to him.

"Sleep well, master" Mrs. Potts left the room.

The next thing he knew, dawn had come and just as he opened his eyes, Belle was stirring in the chair.

"Beast?" she asked, still half asleep.

Without saying a word, he opened his arms to her and she traversed the distance between them.

"He hurt you" the beast felt the cloth covering the wound on her shoulder.

"It's only a scratch" she let him hold her, not wanting or caring what anyone else though of him. This man owned her heart and that was the only thing she knew.

"Is he gone?" the beast asked.

"Completely. I warned if he should return, I'll give him another scar to match the one he already has".

"_Bitch!" Gaston growled, feeling the thin line of blood moving down his cheek._

_Seeing that Gaston, in his usual vanity, was momentarily fixated on the mark she gave him, she knocked his sword of his hand and his large frame to the ground._

"_Get out now" she growled._

"_But Belle, you don't have to live like this, with him, he is a monster"._

"_Let me be the judge of that" as Gaston crawled away from her, she was on his heels, ready to warn him again, if he had not gotten the message the first time._

"_But Belle, you don't love him, how could you love him, you know I would be good for you…" Gaston continued to protest._

"_I never wanted you, Gaston and I never will. Now leave, before I give your scar a twin" her sword was at his throat. _

_Finally, Gaston picked himself up and with his men behind him, removed themselves from the castle._

"_Lumiere! Cogsworth! Mrs. Potts!" Crowding around the unconscious and bloody form of their master, they assisted him to his bed._

They felt the warm liquid oozing between them. The beast looked down and saw one of the bandages had become loose.

"Lay down" she ordered, retrieving the medical kit.

"Where did you learn to do all this?" he acquiesced her order as she removed the open bandage.

"Learn to do what?".

"You fight better than any man I have ever known and you are tending to my wounds as if you are a trained physician".

"I have spent a lifetime with a father who as many times as he has tried to invent something has ended up with bumps and bruises".

"And the fighting?" the beast asked, trying not to wince as she rubbed the lotion into the wound.

"I was a lonely child; I had to do something to pass the time".

As if he knew he was being talked about, Maurice appeared in the doorway. Seeing the tenderness between them, Maurice felt as if he was watching a play, not his daughter and the man she called her love.

"Papa, please, come in, he is far from what he seems".

"Monsieur, I…" the beast paled, remembering his first interaction with the older man, not knowing that the man was the father of the woman he wanted to spend his life with.

"It is all right, I know now what you mean to my daughter and what she means to you. I only ask that you make her happy".

"I would do nothing less".

"Well then, I, uh, I think I will do some exploring and leave you two alone" Maurice walked out.

For the next two days he seemed to be healing. Then something happened.

"What's wrong with him, papa?" Belle asked as she applied the towel to his forehead as he thrashed around in the bed.

"He has a fever. The most we can do is help him heal and hope his body responds".

Acquiescing to her father's suggestions, she continued to remain at his side. She continued to sleep in the chair, though her body was demanding a more comfortable place to sleep, it was not her own comfort she worried about.

"Mistress, perhaps, for tonight, you should return to your bed, I will look after him?" Lumiere offered. Since she had returned and it was obvious, at least to the servants that she was at their master's side for good, they had stopped referring to her as "Belle" and starting to call her "mistress".

"No, I can take care of him" she was pale, large circles appeared under her eyes and she looked quite haggard.

"Mistress, if I may, it will not do him or you any good, if you do not rest" Cogsworth gently suggested.

"Perhaps a few hours will do some good" wrapping the shawl around her shoulders she walked out of his room and to hers.

For nearly a week, his health remained the same as the fever took over his body. Belle tried to sleep in her own bed, but every night, she returned to the chair in his room.

As the beast slept in his feverish state, he thought he heard someone enter.

"Your highness, we meet again" the enchantress appeared.

"You, you did this to me".

"I didn't do anything, I only asked you for some shelter on a cold night, it was your decision that governed your destiny. Though I wonder if you have learned your lesson" Belle stirred in the chair as the enchantress hovered above him.

"I have, I love her, she loves me, she defended me from him, she has taken care of me".

"Now I understand about the wound on her shoulder, but I am curious if she knows about the children growing within her".

"Children?" the beast asked.

"Yes, I see twins, one boy and one girl".

The beast shuddered as he turned to his body shaking from the fever.

"Please, do not let me die" he begged, "I cannot die now".

"I do not control that, but I do possibly foresee a broken hearted young woman who may have to raise her children alone. But, being as I see you have changed, I will remove the curse and heal you, but that does not mean I will let you forget".

"Children?" was the only thing he could respond, the beast roared as he felt like his back was on fire and then the world went black.

His eyes opened to find the enchantress had disappeared. Feeling his back, he felt it marked. Turning to the mirror, he saw the marks on his back, but he was also human.

"Beast?" Belle stirred in her sleep.

"Sleep, I'm here" he gently lifted her from the chair, not wanting to wake her as her arms subconsciously wrapped around his neck.

After laying her on the bed, he climbed in next to her.

"Good night, my love" he thought to himself as he pulled her close and wrapped the blanket around them. She was his, he was hers, as it was meant to be and for the first time in nearly a week, they both slept peacefully.

She woke up the next morning feeling the soft mattress beneath her. She knew she had fallen asleep in the chair and dreamed that she had somehow moved from the chair to the bed, but wasn't sure how.

Opening her eyes, she staring in hers a pair of blue eyes. The eyes were the same, but the face was different.

"Good morning, love" he said as his thumb pressed against her cheek.

"Who are you, where is the beast?" Belle asked.

"Don't you recognize me?".

"I don't" Getting out of the bed, she faced the window, hoping she would turn around and the beast would return.

"I am the beast, my love and my name is Vincent. It was you who saved me, who saw the man beneath the beast".

"I'm sorry, I don't know you" she walked out and upon reaching her own room, collapsed into tears.

He heard her tears, the last time he was the cause of her heartache was the night she had arrived and now again, he had caused her tears. He wanted to reach out to her, to let her know that nothing had changed between them, but at the moment, he knew he couldn't.

Belle heard his footsteps disappear away from her door. Here was a man, a prince, who had seemed to leap out of her fantasies, who looked at her with such fierce love, it was undeniable. But she didn't know him and until the day she did, she would never love him like she loved the beast.

Not even her father's counsel could warm her heart and drive her tears away.

"Belle, the boy loves you, I have never seen a man look at a woman like the way he looks at you and I have not seen you so happy since your mother was alive. At least let him speak".

"What would he say to me, papa? He's a prince, I am an inventor's daughter, it would not work between us".

"What you deserve and he deserves, is to be happy, if you love him, don't hide from him, life is too short to hide".

"Papa, what if I told you I was with child?" Belle asked, her eyes starting to tear up.

"Are you positive?" Maurice asked, the glee filling him.

"I am".

"Then you must tell him, for the sake of the child" Belle knew her father was right, but for the first time in a long time, her confidence was shaken.

"I cannot, papa".

"Very well then, I cannot force you, but I think it's best, for you and the child, that he knew" kissing his daughter on the forehead, Maurice walked out as Vincent scurried behind a pillar.

"A child, well children" Vincent grinned, the enchantress's prophecy had come true. Now all he had to do was convince her that nothing had changed.

It was three days later that he had his chance.

"Master?" Mrs. Potts and the rest of the kitchen staff were surprised to see him in the kitchen.

"I'll take that" Vincent took the tray from the surprised maid. Belle had been taking meals in her room; he thought surprising her might aid him in his cause. Pulling the rose out from his jacket, he knocked on her door. There was no response.

"Belle?" he knocked again.

Again, there was no response. Opening the door, he placed the tray on a nearby table. The room was empty.

"I think, master, the mistress has gone for a swim" Lumiere stood in the doorway.

Outside, the warm sun warmed Belle's skin as she swam the perimeter of the lake. She wanted to tell him how very much she loved him, that a child, made of their love was growing inside of her. But he was still a prince and she was still a peasant. He would marry of course, a woman of his own class. She would be known as the woman he loved, but she would still be considered his mistress and their children illegitimate while his children by his wife would be considered his legitimate heirs.

Belle was so lost in her thoughts that she did not see him approaching the lake.

They had talked of swimming last winter, when she had noticed the lake, but he was afraid that his appearance would push her away.

She rose out of the lake, like Venus newly formed and his heart nearly stopped. She was beautiful, more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

"_Now or never_" he thought to himself as he removed his shirt. He felt his scars as he lifted the shirt off of his body, but he needed to show her that he needed her.

Coming up for air after another dive under the water, her eyes grew wide, when she realized that she was no longer alone.

"Please, don't go" Vincent begged, gently grabbing her arm.

She started to climb out of the lake, but his hand was remained on her arm.

"You're a prince, you deserve a better woman than I" she turned so her back faced him as his wet fingers gently caressed her shoulders.

"My love, what I need and want is you. Everything I have is worth nothing without you".

She turned to him, their fingers mingling beneath the water.

"I'm with child" she said quietly.

"A child?" he asked, pretending he did not know.

"Yes, our child".

She was surprised by the kiss and instead of breaking it, as he feared, she responded to his kiss.

"Will you stay?" Vincent asked, finally breaking the kiss.

"Yes, beast".

This time, it was she who initiated the kiss.

"Say it, love, for I long to hear you say it" he begged.

"Say what?" she asked.

"My name" he replied.

"I love you, Vincent".

The world was soon forgotten as he dived in for another greedy kiss.

"Well, Cogsworth, what do you think, do happy endings really exist?" Lumiere asked his cohort as they watched the interaction.

"Perhaps".

Outside, Belle broke the kiss.

"What's wrong?" Vincent asked.

"We did talk about going swimming and we do have few hours of daylight" Belle said with a sly smile before going under.

Taking a deep breath, Vincent followed her, knowing that he would follow her for the rest of their lives.

The end


End file.
